Money & Training Available for Habitat Buffer Monitors

As required for Georgia's participation in the Conservation
Reserve Program Practice CP 33 Habitat Buffers For Upland Birds,
spring (May 22 - June 11) monitoring will be conducted for
bobwhites and 4 species of songbirds (eastern kingbird, field
sparrow, eastern meadowlark, and loggerhead shrike); and fall
(October 15 - November 15) covey count monitoring will be conducted
for bobwhites only. Monitoring will occur at 40 treatment and 40
paired control points on private farmland in a 12 county area,
mostly in SW Georgia. Your assistance is needed in locating
volunteers, hopefully avid birders, to serve as observers in this
survey.

Observer training will be conducted on May 20-21 (Saturday and
Sunday) in Albany. Training will begin at 7am on May 20th, last all
day and end around mid morning on May 21st. Nongame Program
biologists Nathan Klaus, Tim Keyes and Todd Schneider will assist
with training and/or locating volunteer observers.

With a minimum of 20 observers it will take around 6-7 days
(including training) per person per year to monitor the points. Of
course this will vary depending on the number of observers and the
relative proximity of sample points. Funds are available to
facilitate paying "volunteers," perhaps $100 or more per day,
depending on the number of observers. This will compensate or at
least offset travel costs. Ideally, the same observers will be
available to monitor the same points during each of the three
survey years.